The Ashes – Fourth Test, Melbourne: Preview – Under prepared, over prepared! Has England really prepared at all?

  UNDER PREPARED, OVER PREPARED! HAS ENGLAND REALLY PREPARED AT ALL?

                        By Dashing Dan Lonergan….

 

England coach, Brendon McCullum shocked everyone after their big defeat at the Gabba in the second test when he said he felt his team over prepared too much for that match considering the first Test in Perth lasted two days and they had one irrelevant practice game against the English Lions and then had a complete break from cricket for a few days.

 

Now! After Adelaide, which has seen the Ashes retained by Australia in just eleven  days and take England’s winless record in Ashes Tests here to eighteen including seventeen defeats, McCullum has admitted they under prepared for this game.

 

Really? The amiable almost laid back New Zealander has finally admitted what most of us have predicted the trip to Noosa, without him actually naming that brief holiday as one of the reasons why I thought their preparation wasn’t enough, but Jack Hill the Blind Miner ( a great saying from VFL commentators  in the 1960s) could see going to the beautiful Sunshine Coast in the lead up to a Test match after they had been thrashed was a bad idea.

 

Having mentioned England were under prepared for the City of Churches, they were better performance wise, but playing a game against someone anyone like South Australia in between their shield match and the start of the BBL maybe over two or three days would have been beneficial.

 

The SACCA could have picked a team of the best grade cricketers and organized a game down the road from the Adelaide Oval, the Karen Rolton Oval.

 

As many ex players have said on a regular basis recently batting and bowling long sessions in the nets don’t hold a candle to match simulation.

 

The same culprits produced the same errors, Duckett not leaving balls he should, Pope throwing those hard hands at everything that moved Brook trying to play a reverse sweep when England should have been aiming to survive on the 4^th day chasing 435 and then Jamie Smith when he and England had some momentum in the first session on the final day had hit four wonderful boundaries in a row before trying to smack Mitch Starc out of the ground only to top edge it to Pat Cummins at mid wicket.

 

Ricky Ponting on Channel Seven described it as ‘Dopey, Dopey, Dopey’ and it takes us back to the legendary Sunil Gavaskar”s  comments on ABC Radio last year when Rishabh Pant played a similar shot and Sunny said ‘Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!’

 

Ben Stokes makes as all players should, the bowlers work hard for their wickets, so does Will Jacks eventhough he is a part time spinner at best.

 

Brydon Carse tries his backside off in all elements of the game but may not be good enough and the all duck or no dinner man, Zac Crawley has had some decent feeds in recent innings.

 

The Ashes are gone now and England only has until Friday before the next Test so it’s a short turn around.

 

How do they prepare? I would work as hard as possible especially Pope with batting coach, Marcus Trescothick to eliminate his bad habit of throwing his hands at every ball, teach Ben Duckett a Test cricketer who has played more than 40 tests and has an average in the high 30s how to leave balls and plead with Harry Brook to put away T/20 shots unless your team is over 400 in front and you have made 150.

 

In regard to Pope, I would drop him. The big problem is there is only one reserve batter and that is Jacob Bethel and he is yet to score a first class century.

 

I would bat Root at 3 whether he wants to or not, Stokes at 4, Brook 5, Jacks 6, who was heroic in Adelaide facing over 150 balls for 47, Smith at seven and teach him that when you have momentum don’t try and hit every ball for four or six.

 

Bashir the spinner must play and his absence so far has been a mystery. Archer, who was good in Adelaide, Carse despite being so expensive and not really having a bowling plan probably shades Atkinson for a spot and Tongue after bowling well in the second innings also keeps his place.

 

The coaches I reckon also need to be tougher publically on their players. McCullum never criticizes them or their actions in public and I would be surprised if he had a decent crack behind closed doors, because his mantra to his players is be positive and Fun. Trescothick the same and even Australian, David Saker, the bowling coach.

 

He said to the Media after the first day in Adelaide he was happy with Will Jacks for holding up an end. Well! That end was profligate as Jacks in both innings went at six an over and conceded over 100 runs.

 

He is not a front line spinner. He is a gritty middle order bat, who can bowl some off spin.

 

The Ashes have been lost, so it’s too late for them, but they have the iconic Boxing Day test where the crowd on Friday should get close to 90, thousand  with the members stacked as many ex private school students  among others tend to use this day to catch up once a year with their adult lives since school often taking them all over the world.

 

This is a chance for England to break the shackles try and play every ball on it’s merits and attack when possible as well as bowl more consistent lines and lengths and show they are a much better team than the one well beaten in the first three tests.

 

Remember! Pat Cummins Australia’s best bowler and skipper has played one Test and he performed well in Adelaide, but has admitted lining up at the G will be a stretch, Nathan Lyon is gone with a hamstring injury after causing havoc late on day four with three important wickets and Josh Hazlewood won’t play all series.

 

With three members of one of Australia’s best ever bowling attacks having little or no role in this series, you can see why before the Ashes started English fans would have been licking their lips at the prospect of dominating Australia.

 

Only Starc from the magnificent four, will again be there in Melbourne, so Neser after five wickets in the second innings at the Gabba must return and play his first red ball day Test.

 

Scott Boland is the MCG specialist and expect him to bowl his usual accuracy with the brilliant Alex Carey standing up behind the stumps to him.

 

Lyon’s replacement is not as clear. Matthew Kunneman has performed well in the sub continent, but has been injured at the start of this Sheffield Shield Season and taken just three wickets in two games for Tasmania.

 

Mitch Swepson who has played four unremarkable Tests has been good for Queensland so far with 21 wickets, but the horse I think at Test level has bolted for him, the highly thought of West Australian, Corey Rocchiccioli has 20 wickets so far this year and a long apprenticeship, while Todd Murphy from Victoria was solid in the Test arena with 22 wickets in seven appearances.

 

He also has 10 scalps in the shield this summer and has played for Australia A. Maybe the Victorian gets the nod, but Rocchiccioli deserves a chance.

 

Steve Smith missed Adelaide due to Illness and Khawaja received a ‘hail Mary’ and took his chance with 82 and 40, so Smith will be back and Khawaja stays.

 

He batted at number 4 in Adelaide, but has played most of his career particularly the second half as an opener and Jake Weatherald his replacement has shown outside his 72 at the Gabba that he might not be good enough playing Test cricket.

 

Some might think that view is harsh after just three tests but the dismissals have generally been the same, LBW in Adelaide even though he should have referred it which showed it pitched outside leg.

 

Mind you! Weatherald probably didn’t trust the referral system. It struggled in Adelaide specifically Snicko.

 

However, Archer has got him three times, twice plumb LB and caught hooking, while Carse has also got him hooking.

 

His stance to me is very low and there are times when the bowling is of Yorker length his body movement including his head are not still and all over the place and being so cramped with his stance he can’t get into position in time to play the hook shot properly.

 

Smith comes in for Inglis, who I don’t believe is at the level in Test matches to be a specialist batter and will be a good keeper/batter, but with Carey in that role age and time might go past him as I expect Alex to be there for a few years yet.

 

I would also leave Green out and replace him with Webster as it’s like for like and Green is not batting well and being used sparingly with ball in hand (where else would it be)

 

Matthew Renshaw was not named in the initial squad but I would replace Weatherald with him. He has had an excellent start to the Sheffield Shield season with 425 runs and I know it’s a different format but he made a pulsating ton in that run fest BBL win for Brisbane Heat against the Scorchers last week.

 

He has represented Australia 11 times in Test cricket over the past decade and made his debut at the age of 20 and despite a big hundred early on struggled in many of his other innings.

 

He reminds me of another Queensland left hander, Matthew Hayden, who burst onto the scene in 1991 and within two years was in the Australian one day squad, but only played seven tests in three years with one unconvincing century in that time.

 

He was recalled for the third Test versing New Zealand in 2000 (Versing is another word I despise, but the 21^st century born generation has made it up and we now begrudgingly accept it) and did Ok.

 

He then kept his spot until retirement in 2008 and made 29 more test hundreds and 8,000 test runs and is recognized as one of Australia’s best ever openers.

 

I am not saying Renshaw Mark 2 will have that sort of career but I think he can become an excellent permanent opener for Australia and has a better game and technique than Weatherald.

 

Renshaw would also be the ideal foil for Travis Head, who we have seen twice in three Tests win games off his own blade.

 

With the Ashes won, Australia can ‘In my humble opinion’ make some selections not so much for the now but the future and Renshaw is one of them and both Murphy and Rocchiccioli are others.

 

My Australian team for Boxing day in batting order for what it’s worth would be… Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne (but teach him to shut up in the field), Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Michael Neser, Mitch Starc, Todd Murphy and Scott Boland.

 

Incredibly, If that team gets up Australia has made four changes, although two of them compulsory through injury  and they have England to already win the Ashes, while the Tourists from my team have made one.

 

To me, it shows complacency from England that they didn’t bring some better reinforcements in the batting when players like Duckett, Pope and to a lesser extent Brook lose form like they have.

 

However, there might be an issue, Are there any possible replacements good enough to play test cricket?

 

Whatever, it’s the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, another great sporting event and the best stadium in the world in the sporting capital of the world! Nothing beats it.

 

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE